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Personality subtypes and cognitive impairment in anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

A. J. Macdonald
A. J. Macdonald*
Affiliation:
North Dorset Primary Care Trust, Forston Clinic, Dorchester DT2 9TB, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 188 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 87 - 88
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Copyright © 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

I read with interest the article by Drs Thompson-Brenner and Westen (Reference Thompson-Brenner and Westen2005) about personality subtypes in eating disorders. Subnutrition from any cause is known to impair cognitive function and several workers have identified this in connection with anorexia nervosa (Reference MacdonaldMacdonald, 1995).

The authors give no data on body mass index or weight. However, 38% of their sample had met criteria for anorexia nervosa at some point, 56% were fasting 4 days a week and half were exercising excessively. It is likely therefore that cognitive impairment was present in many. Hence the ‘personality subtypes’ identified may vanish on refeeding, or may be more pronounced, having been masked by cognitive blunting. It seems best to seek for personality subtypes in eating disorders during periods of adequate nutrition.

References

Macdonald, A. J. (1995) Eating disorders. Journal of Family Therapy, 17, 356.Google Scholar
Thompson-Brenner, H. & Westen, D. (2005) Personality subtypes in eating disorders: validation of a classification in a naturalistic sample. British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 516–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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